Roommate? Spell out cost-sharing

Paula Wethington

Tuesday

May 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 28, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Some of the financial advice I?ve read lately is aimed at young adults who are living on their own for the first time. The most common tip has been ?Get a roommate and share the cost of a larger apartment.?

Some of the financial advice I?ve read lately is aimed at young adults who are living on their own for the first time.

The most common tip has been ?Get a roommate and share the cost of a larger apartment.?

But there are hidden costs to a roommate arrangement that simply dividing the rental cost fails to take into consideration. I remember ?running into unexpected situations when I was single and renting, and I cautioned my daughter about the potential problems when she was looking for living quarters in a new town nearly two years ago.

The first thing ?to consider?is whether all ?tenants will be named on the lease, and who is ultimately responsible for the payment. Individual roommate leasing for off-campus housing was a novel concept during my college days and still is unusual in communities where the tenants are more likely to be couples or families who already are sharing expenses than casual friends who expect to keep finances separate.

One risk with roommate finances is that the remaining tenants could be held responsible for all of the rent should one move out or fail to pay his or her share.

For example, when my ex-husband and I split up, there remained six months on our lease. A potentially awkward situation was averted because at the time I could afford the rent.?I informed the landlady he had moved out and I would take over the payments. After the lease expired, I rented the apartment on a month-to-month basis. The monthly clause gave me a possible exit when other expenses increased and I almost moved out on short notice.

Even if each person?s name?is on the lease, services such as natural gas, electric and cablevision are normally just in one name.

What happens if the share of the electric bill that a roommate owes you is not paid on time? How will you handle disputes as to whether the air conditioning should be running, and what temperature the furnace should be set at?

And what if the roommate who moved out was the one who signed for the utilities? Are you prepared to switch that account to your name to keep the lights on?

Beyond utility expenses: Does one roommate want cablevision or satellite TV, while the other doesn?t want to pitch in? You can?t lock out a roommate from watching TV as easily as you can install a password on a wireless Internet service.

And how will you handle food costs? If this expense is considered ?on your own,? what steps will you take to ensure sure food and beverages will not disappear before you can eat them? If the groceries are to be shared, what happens if your roommate has expensive tastes and expects you to contribute accordingly?

After we discussed the potential complications when my daughter moved to a city where she didn?t know anyone, and could not look for a compatible roommate in advance, she found a one-bedroom apartment and lived by herself.